Emineo Mediahttp://www.emineomedia.com
Tue, 02 Oct 2018 21:53:32 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.9http://www.emineomedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/EMO-Wind2.pngEmineo Mediahttp://www.emineomedia.com
3232511920622018 SBA South Florida Small Business Awardshttp://www.emineomedia.com/2018-sba-south-florida-small-business-awards/
http://www.emineomedia.com/2018-sba-south-florida-small-business-awards/#respondWed, 02 May 2018 21:50:19 +0000http://www.emineomedia.com/?p=4683Congratulations to Orlando Espinosa, co-founder of Emineo Media! Orlando was recently announced as winner of the 2018 State of Florida Small Business Advocate of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Florida SBDC at FIU was proud to have nominated him for this well deserved honor.

MIAMI – U.S. Small Business South Florida District Office recently announced the winners of the SBA’s 2018 District and State of Florida Small Business Week Awards.

Rockledge, Florida-based SeaDek was named the SBA 2018 Small Business National Exporter of the Year. The company, nominated by the Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida, will be travel to Washington D.C to receive their award during the 2018 National Small Business Week Awards Ceremony.

“This is a celebratory announcement for the entire South Florida region,” said Lynn Douthett, interim district director for the South Florida District Office. “First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the entire SDBC at UCF team for their contributions towards SeaDek’s success. Rewarding this company on a national stage for their hard work and dedication will help to inspire other entrepreneurs considering expanding their business into the international trade marketplace.”

Exporter of the Year (National, Region IV, State of Florida and South Florida District)

Digital marketing has taken the marketing industry by storm. While print marketing still holds power within the industry, it’s the digital marketing trends that are proving to hold precedence. While Web Strategies reported that in 2016 the five digital channels that saw large gains were email marketing, social media, online display advertising, mobile marketing and search, you’re likely wondering what this year will bring. After all, the internet and all of its trends are constantly changing and what was a marketing powerhouse last year could very well be old news this year. To help you strategize a marketing plan that will take your company to the next level, here’s our list of the digital marketing trends anticipated for the rest of 2017.

Live Video Streaming

Without a doubt, live video streaming will take off fully this year. Facebook and Instagram have already integrated live video capabilities into their channels, and other platforms are expected to follow suit. From the presidential debates to the Oscars, local news stories and personal experiences have been shared online via a live stream. It’s a trend that has the potential to draw in millions of people who are eager for a look at something that is happening right now.

People are drawn to the idea of seeing someone else’s perspective first hand and now live videos cater to this desire. This can significantly improve the way you build brand awareness and customer loyalty as you form a personal relationship with your customers. You’re offering them an exclusive look inside that not everyone will see. That is unless they’re online at that exact time.

Augmented Reality

The Pokémon Go trend may have died just as quickly as it grew in 2016, but it showed marketers the power of augmented reality. It proved that people are enthusiastic to indulge in AR experiences. The trick is to find out why Pokémon Go wasn’t successful for longer. Once you’ve figured that out and made the tweak, augmented reality could very well be the key to success in 2017.

The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to figure this out yourself. App developers and marketing experts are already working on this. On the other hand, you may want to start thinking of ways to can incorporate AR into your business, whether it’s with an advertisement, game or application.

Virtual Reality

Continuing from the previous theme, virtual reality is expected to be just as popular as AR in 2017. However, there seems to be some confusion over AR and VR, and in order to capitalize on these trends, you need to understand them.

To put it simply, AR is where you use technology in the real world, such as Pokémon Go to distort or add to what they are actually experiencing. People are able to interact with a different world within their own. VR is putting your consumers into a different world, using technology to escape reality.

As such, it’s predicted that companies will start to provide VR experiences to reach a wider range of consumers. Real estate agents can provide various property showings all in one place with VR and consumers can interact with other people from their living room. It’s a marketing trend that is inarguably going to change the industry in 2017. It’s the next step in evolution and because it’s so different from what companies, marketers and consumers are used to, it will be important to capitalize on it before you’re left behind.

Viral Marketing

“Viral” is one term that has flooded the internet as of late. Everyone wants their content to go viral. Whether it’s a video, article, status, photo – companies are now focusing on producing quality and catchy content that has the potential to go viral instead of producing batches of smaller, generic content. It’s about quality, not quantity.

Google’s algorithm considers the social status of your content to determine the ranking in the search engine. So the more likes, shares and engagement you have on your material, the better your search engine ranking will be. It’s a new twist to SEO that is expected to hold precedence over other SEO tactics.

Behavior-Based Email Marketing

Some countries, such as Canada, have an anti-spam law which has changed the way businesses interact with their consumers via email. This law has been in place since 2014, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise. However, consumer behavior continues to change, which results in the need for email marketing to also evolve and adapt to the trend.

Although consumers may have opted for your newsletter campaign, irrelevant content is now causing them to unsubscribe. As a result, behavior-based email marketing is expected to trend. Just like the ads on Google, emails are now tailored to what the consumer is doing online. For example, if your consumer is searching online for content marketers, your next email to them should be about content marketers. Generic emails are no longer a success and spam emails will jeopardize your marketing success, whether the anti-spam law is active in your country or not.

Visual Content

Forget about long social media statuses and blog posts; 2017 is the year for visual content. While you’ll still need to produce written content for search engine optimization, visual content will be the main source for driving traffic and leads. Everything from infographics to photos, digital guides, presentations and graphics will become the ultimate way to generate new leads.

Digital marketing trends are constantly changing year by year. What’s popular at the beginning of 2017 may be old news come the end of the year. It’s important to always stay current with any changes within the industry to ensure an optimal marketing strategy throughout the year. However, these top digital marketing trends are looking like they will not be going anywhere anytime soon. They’re a big hit with consumers and can be an even bigger success for your company.

]]>http://www.emineomedia.com/digital-marketing-changes-quickly/feed/0466110 Digital Marketing Tips for Small Business Ownershttp://www.emineomedia.com/10-digital-marketing-tips-for-small-business-owners/
http://www.emineomedia.com/10-digital-marketing-tips-for-small-business-owners/#respondThu, 09 Feb 2017 02:49:57 +0000http://www.emineomedia.com/?p=4638The proliferation of digital marketing and social media resources has made it easier than ever to pitch to Main Street–without Madison Avenue budgets.

Mickey Mantas, ‎global agency and partner education consultant at LinkedIn, says these options let you be selective in how you spend digitally, and only “build a presence on the platforms that best represent you and your company.” Don’ t think of it as a one-time campaign; it’ll evolve and grow as your business does.

Chase assembled a panel of digital marketing experts—from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Yelp—to help you plan your 2017 social campaigns. Here are some of their suggestions:

Go mobile:We consume virtually all information on-the-go, so your marketing platform should be “mobile-centric” instead of just “mobile-friendly.” Messaging that isn’t designed for mobile access and search will be less valuable in 2017.

Create compelling content: Our attention spans continue to drop—now just eight seconds, on average, according to a Microsoft study. Grab readers’ attention with information tailored to their needs and they’ll come back for more. “Put your products, services, business and employees in your content,” says Christian Eberhardt, sales manager at Twitter. “Use imagery and video to drive engagement.”

Dive into data: Modestly-priced data-mining software can unearth sales and other customer information within your spreadsheets and reports, for insights you can act on: Personalizing offers and improving customer service.

Think big (without spending big): No business is too small for digital marketing. These resources let you spend wisely, to elevate visibility and reputation. Facebook’s Global Head of Financial Services Strategy, Neil Hiltz says, “if people aren’t aware of you, they’re not going to buy your product.” Focus on keyword search and search engine optimization to attract more attention.

Build a profile:Spending a few minutes on your LinkedIn and other social media profiles—and amplifying that visibility with well-placed, paid social media posts—will raise your digital profile and attract new customers better than traditional networking would.

Try “buy” buttons: Consumers can make purchases in one click, without even leaving Facebook, YouTube and other social media sites. These “buy buttons” are gaining popularity and increase the likelihood of a completed purchase, while freeing you from investing in costly app development.

Look locally: A hyper-local paid strategy targets customers by zip code, neighborhood or street name, connecting you with the audiences you most care about.

Email often: The so-called death of email marketing has been greatly exaggerated. In fact, email continues to be one of the most useful, cost-effective marketing tools: 78% of consumers aged 35–44 rank it as the communication platform they most prefer, according to MarketingSherpa. Used appropriately, it can be a powerful marketing tool.

]]>http://www.emineomedia.com/10-digital-marketing-tips-for-small-business-owners/feed/046385 Ways to Grow Your Brand in 2017http://www.emineomedia.com/5-ways-to-grow-your-brand-in-2017/
http://www.emineomedia.com/5-ways-to-grow-your-brand-in-2017/#respondMon, 06 Feb 2017 06:05:09 +0000http://www.emineomedia.com/?p=4633Small businesses face challenges, and these five ways of growing your small business can differentiate your business from the others. Do not get distracted with spreading operations thin across a multitude of unnecessary platforms. Focus on simplification, customization and understanding your free cash flow. Once you accomplish those vital tasks, learning to invest the retained earnings may be the most challenging task of all, but in business, we call that a good problem.

1. Get Better At Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In the words of Bill Gates, “there will be only two kinds of businesses, those with an internet presence, and those with no business at all.” This one statement effectively illustrates the modern business landscape. People go to the internet for almost all information. What kind of internet presence does your small business have? Today you can’t just have a sexy website, instead you need to have a means for attracting visitors in the first place. This is where SEO comes in. With roughly 644 million active websites on the net, it is becoming very challenging to be discovered online. SEO involves a series of rules and protocols that helps bring your business out of the background and into the virtual highway. When someone is searching the web after a hailstorm for “Cleveland roofing service,” you want your business to be one of the first pages on Google. If you rank high enough organically, that’s free advertising. The easiest way to get better at SEO is to simply hire someone. Although that might be the best option for companies with a big enough budget, others might not be so fortunate. If you’re strapped for cash, I have two important recommendations. First, there is a free website that teaches small business owners how to optimize their websites for Local SEO. I can’t recommend this resource highly enough. Second, there is a book titled The Ultimate Guide to Link Building. This is an incredible resource to help people understand how to do SEO the right way.

2. Understand Lean Operations

A key element to running a business is organization and prioritization. Do not allow your business organization to disintegrate into an array of convoluted finger-pointing when it comes to operations. A good book to reference regarding lean business operations is Good to Great by Jim Collins. Good to Great evaluates the qualities of companies that not only grew but also maintained success beyond their growth periods. The book discusses the importance of simplification in business operations. Collins and his associates found that great businesses comply with three major operational components: level five leaders, the right staff and confronting brutal facts. Once businesses understand the intersection of those three components, the managers continue to optimize and simplify operations. What are bare bones to your small business? More importantly, what activities give you 80% of the value for 20% of the time?

3. Focus On Free Cash Flow

A small business needs to define their free cash flow. Businesses typically calculate free cash flow based on what is left over after all necessary financing expenditures are paid and non-cash items are adjusted on the net income. When a small business owner starts to think about business decisions from a free cash flow vantage point, new opportunities and perspectives are gained. More specifically, growth opportunities become more apparent. Where many business owners lose sight of this important consideration is when they make huge capital investments into infrastructure that has large depreciation costs and little long-term value is created. Having a balance sheet full of stagnant assets that add little long-term value creates a financially inefficient company. This is one of the reasons Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have been so successful through the years; they have always looked at the free cash flow of their own business and any new opportunities for growth.

4. It’s All About The Customers

Small businesses have a fundamental advantage over large corporations. Small businesses can interact with customers at a much more personal level. This is not to say that large corporations do not care about the customers, but it’s more challenging to put the CEO or other high-ranking executives face to face with new customers. Small businesses are local and can customize their services to their specific population. Take for example this dental practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Recently, I talked to one of the partners at this practice and he told me how important customer interactions were to their overall business model. For him, there was nothing more important than ensuring each customer had a satisfactory visit. Although this might seem like common sense for most business interactions, many companies get customer fatigue and complacency. Culture and focus on individual customer interactions is something that many small businesses take for granted and fail to realize the long-term importance. Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People demonstrates the value of placing the customer first. One pivotal element to focusing on the customer involves Covey’s rule of “seeking first to understand before being understood.” We live in an era of complete customization, from social media profiles to iPhone cases. People want what they want. Make sure you understand your customer or client, then you can cater to their specific desires. Additionally, billionaire Tony Hsieh wrote a book titled, Delivering Happiness, and it talks about how an online shoe company uses its customer service to create a competitive advantage over other retailers. Whether you’re running a local dental clinic or a large online shoe store, focus on the customer and treat each interaction as a vital source of future growth. This habit is the lifeblood of any great business.

5. Invest The Retained Earnings Intelligently

Your business runs well. You understand the balance sheet, and you want to explore other opportunities. You can reinvest your retained earnings back into the operational business, or you can choose to invest in external assets that are non-operational subsidiaries. What is the right decision? Well that’s the hard decision. I guess my point for bringing this discussion into the fold is to simply make the reader aware of the idea. Too often business owners think they need to reinvest retained earnings into the organic business. In many cases this is the right decision, but in some instances they aren’t doing the hard math. In fact, many business owners that have had successful companies in the first 10 years take the retained earnings and invest in another operational business. The failure comes when the overconfidence from the first success overshadows the realism in the second venture. New ventures that have low odds of success and huge upfront costs could mean the death of both businesses. Instead of taking low-probability choices with huge sums of money, a better choice might be to invest in non-operational assets (either private or public).

The City of Doral and the Economic Development Advisory Board present a free Business Forum that presents engaging speakers and experts in business, higher education, government and trade. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with representatives from Miami-Dade County,
Miami Dade College, the Small Business Administration, SCORE, the Beacon Council and other organizations that provide resources to help small businesses succeed.

The keynote speaker will be Miami Herald President and Publisher Alexandra Villoch.

Other speakers include: Vivian Walters Jr.,Small Business Development Section Chief of the Internal Services Department at Miami-Dade County;

Dr. Roger Ramsammy, President of Miami Dade College West Campus;

Jonel Hein, Deputy District Director of the Small Business Administration;

Orlando Espinosa, Co-Founder of MICROscholarships Inc.

Stanley Rigaud, Economic Developer of International Programs for The Beacon Council.

]]>http://www.emineomedia.com/doral-business-forum/feed/045186 Things Linda McMahon Plans to Do for Entrepreneurs and Small Businesseshttp://www.emineomedia.com/6-things-linda-mcmahon-plans-to-do-for-entrepreneurs-and-small-businesses/
http://www.emineomedia.com/6-things-linda-mcmahon-plans-to-do-for-entrepreneurs-and-small-businesses/#respondSat, 28 Jan 2017 00:02:50 +0000http://www.emineomedia.com/?p=4484Linda McMahon, the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, plans to be an advocate for small-business owners, particularly the women among them, as head of the Small Business Administration.

That’s according to testimony from her confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Small Business on Tuesday, where she discussed her vision for leading an organization that is often considered a sleepy backwater among government agencies.

McMahon, the wife of professional wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, was poised and confident as she spoke about the risks small businesses take on a daily basis, referencing one of her own early ventures that ended in bankruptcy and losing the family home. She also spoke about what she is best known for: building WWE from a small company where she and her husband once worried that $12 a month was too much for a typewriter, into a $1.5 billion publicly traded company with 800 employees.

“Small business people are people with goals and values that can’t be calculated on a profit and loss statement,” McMahon said in her opening remarks. “I will do my best to advocate on their behalf.”

Here are six things that McMahon plans to do as administrator of the SBA.

1. Keep the SBA independent. McMahon would fight to keep the SBA an independent agency and not merge it with the Department of Commerce, an idea that was first floated by the Obama Administration in 2014.

2. Strengthen the SBA’s Office of Advocacy. McMahon said she would put more teeth into the agency’s advocacy efforts as it meets with politicians on Capitol Hill. More specifically, she would use the Office to tackle any new or existing regulations that prove too burdensome to small-business owners.

3. Faster disaster recovery. McMahon said she would beef up the SBA’s disaster recovery program, and speed up the response time for getting businesses funding after a crisis. Some conservative groups have recommended removing disaster recovery loans from the wheelhouse of the SBA entirely, as a way to trim the budget. Simultaneously, business owners and congressional representatives have often criticized the SBA for delays in getting loans to business owners after natural disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. “Disasters don’t pick a time and we need to be prepared,” McMahon said. “We need to get the funds to [small businesses] so they can get back to functioning.”

4. Improve financial literacy. Today’s young entrepreneurs are great coming up with ideas for businesses, but too many lack a basic knowledge of finance, which is detrimental to their long-term prospects. As administrator, McMahon would help young entrepreneurs achieve a better understanding of financial matters important to their businesses.

5. Support for disadvantaged businesses. McMahon would increase federal contracting opportunities for women and other minority businesses. She’d also boost mentoring programs for women and minorities, via existing programs including SCORE.

6. More federal contracting opportunities for all small businesses. McMahon says she would streamline an often confusing and opaque process for small businesses applying for federal contracts, and she’d help small businesses to compete more effectively against larger businesses for prime contracting opportunities. (Small-business contract misallocation has been an ongoing problem within the federal government: in 2015, a total of 151 Fortune 500 companies landed government and small-business contracts, according to the American Small Business League.) Winning a prime contract makes a business the lead supplier. Small businesses are most typically subcontractors.

]]>http://www.emineomedia.com/6-things-linda-mcmahon-plans-to-do-for-entrepreneurs-and-small-businesses/feed/0448470 Percent of Small Businesses Plan to Increase Digital Marketing Spendhttp://www.emineomedia.com/70-percent-of-small-businesses-plan-to-increase-digital-marketing-spend/
http://www.emineomedia.com/70-percent-of-small-businesses-plan-to-increase-digital-marketing-spend/#respondWed, 25 Jan 2017 02:13:33 +0000http://www.emineomedia.com/?p=4490Seventy percent of small to medium sized businesses polled said they will increase their digital/web-based marketing budgets in the new year.

That’s according to GetResponse, an email marketing software solution serving over 350,000 small businesses, marketers and brands.

GetResponse recently commissioned a study to examine expected digital marketing investments among US-based small and medium-sized businesses in 2017.

The study polled 200 US-based small to medium sized business decision makers at the end of 2016, and also looked into the channels most likely to drive spending. The study findings were eye-opening.

Of the companies indicating in the poll they would increase their budgets, 30 percent said the budget will “increase considerably,” while 40 percent said it will “increase somewhat.”

Projected Digital Marketing Spend in 2017

According to the GetResponse study, 28 percent of the remaining businesses polled said their budget would remain unchanged. Only 2 percent said their digital marketing budgets would decrease in 2017.

“Digital marketing is vital for SMBs and our survey numbers bear that out,” said Simon Grabowski, GetResponse CEO and Founder. “Marketers are investing accordingly, given the substantial return on investment delivered through web-based campaigns.”

Social, Mobile and Email to Drive Digital Marketing Spend

The study also noted that social, mobile and email are poised to drive the spending surge this year. Of the small to medium sized business executives surveyed that projected increased marketing budgets in 2017, 59 percent said marketing on social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter will primarily drive that growth.

The next channel projected to drive digital marketing spend in 2017 is said to be mobile marketing (50 percent) — either app or web-based — followed by email marketing (42 percent).

]]>http://www.emineomedia.com/70-percent-of-small-businesses-plan-to-increase-digital-marketing-spend/feed/04490Small Business Resources for Veteranshttp://www.emineomedia.com/small-business-resources-for-veterans/
http://www.emineomedia.com/small-business-resources-for-veterans/#respondThu, 05 Jan 2017 20:15:17 +0000http://www.emineomedia.com/?p=4524Veterans who are small-business owners are an important part of the U.S. economy. These entrepreneurs own 7.5% of the nation’s 5.4 million businesses with employees, according to latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Still, new businesses need assistance at some point, and that’s where small-business loans, grants and other financing resources for veterans come into play.

If you’re a veteran hoping to get your small business off the ground, start with the Veterans Business Outreach Center Program. VBOCs provide business training, counseling and mentoring at 15 locations throughout the country. You can also contact Score, a nonprofit association of volunteer business counselors who offer free business workshops and in-person appointments.

Financing advice and training are highly beneficial for vets-turned-entrepreneurs. Find a mentor who has transitioned out of the military. They can provide valuable information on the leap into entrepreneurship, says Jim Salmon, a Navy veteran and vice president of business services at Navy Federal Credit Union.

To help you start and grow your business, we rounded up the best small-business loans for veterans. And below, we compiled great small-business grants and other resources for veterans:

Boots to Business: This is a free, three-part education and training program offered by the U.S. Small Business Administration to service members who want to become entrepreneurs. The program includes a two-day course taught at more than 165 military installations worldwide. All active-duty military members transitioning out of the military and their partners or spouses are eligible.

Institute for Veterans and Military Families(IVMF): This program at Syracuse University provides education and training for business-minded veterans. It includes the Boots to Business program, the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans With Disabilities (EBV) and the Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship program.

“We’ve put about 39,000 people through [our programs],” says James Schmeling, IVMF’s co-founder and managing director. “Part of what we do is educate them on access to capital, financing their business or bootstrapping a business.”

Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small-Business Program: This SBA program helps qualifying entrepreneurs obtain sole-source government contracts of up to $5 million. Participants must own at least 51% of the business and have a service-connected disability, as determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense, among other criteria.

The StreetShares Foundation: Online lender StreetShares announced a partnership with JP Morgan Chase on Nov. 10 to provide a total of $10,000 in three monthly awards to eligible veterans, reserve or active-duty members, and military-spouse small-business owners. Winners are chosen based on several criteria, including the strength of their business idea, the potential impact and use of awarded funds, and the influence of the business on the military and veterans community, according to StreetShares.

VetBiz: Use this Department of Veterans Affairs site to apply to become a certified veteran-owned small business, which makes you eligible to win federal contracts.

Veteran Entrepreneur Portal: The VEP connects entrepreneurial vets to federal, state and local financing programs, resources and opportunities.

Women Veteran Entrepreneurship Program Grant: The SBA Office of Veterans Business Development offers this funding opportunity for female veteran-owned businesses. The SBA says it will make up to six awards with a minimum reward of $25,000 each for qualifying businesses. Applications for the grant must be submitted by Dec. 12, 2016.

Women Veterans Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-Wise): This three-part online training program provides the tools that female veterans need to become successful entrepreneurs. The program offers several courses, including business planning, accounting and finance, marketing and human resources. The program costs $75 and is open to all female veterans, active-duty female service members, and the partners or spouses of active-duty service members.

]]>http://www.emineomedia.com/small-business-resources-for-veterans/feed/04524Marketing Online: Basic Strategies Any Business Can Usehttp://www.emineomedia.com/marketing-online-basic-strategies-any-business-can-use/
http://www.emineomedia.com/marketing-online-basic-strategies-any-business-can-use/#respondSun, 05 Jun 2016 05:01:42 +0000http://www.emineomedia.com/?p=4515Want to get into marketing online but wondering what the options are and what online marketing strategies will best fit your business and your marketing budget? This marketing online primer presents an overview of strategies for you to choose from. I recommend choosing and implementing at least three; successful marketing online depends on diversity and persistence for most small businesses.

1) Have a Blog/Website.

The first step to successful marketing online is to have a home base on the web.

It doesn’t really matter if you have an official website or a blog or a combination of both. Either will give you a web address where people can find you and a convenient way of referring to you, two things that will facilitate your marketing online efforts. So even if you don’t sell anything online directly, you need a website.

I encourage business people to have a blog on their website or serving as a website because if you blog regularly and have something relevant to say, you will develop a following – and some of those people will help your marketing online efforts by spreading the word about you and your products and/or services.

2) Online Advertising

Many small businesses in particular bother with this marketing online strategy, I suspect because they don’t want to shell out for it.

They only want to do free marketing online. I say, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with free marketing online strategies – as long as you realize they’re not. All the ‘free’ online marketing strategies I’m aware of take a considerable time investment, meaning they’re only free if your time is worth nothing.

Traditional online advertising, on the other hand, takes relatively little time and can be a very effective marketing online strategy. The first thing you need to know about it is that there are two cost models, CPM and CPC.

CPM stands for Cost Per Thousand Impressions. With this type of marketing online, you basically buy space on a web page and pay for a certain number of impressions, or the number of times your ad is going to be displayed. Many of the banner ads you see on various websites are being paid for on a CPM model.

CPC stands for Cost-Per-Click advertising. In this model, you pay only for the number of times a viewer clicks on your ad, not on the number of times it’s displayed.

Google AdWords is perhaps the best known Pay-per-click marketing online program. When you’re marketing online with this program, you choose particular keywords that you want your ads to be associated with. When people search on Google using one of your keywords, your ad may appear next to the search results.

The theory is that these people are much more likely to be interested in your products or services.

Another online advertising strategy you may wish to try is creating and posting an online video (either to your own website or to a popular video sharing site such as YouTube). An online video can be marketing online gold if it becomes popular.

3) Directory Listings

Adding your business to appropriate directory listings (local directory listings, business directories, etc.) is another way of marketing online that takes little time and is relatively inexpensive. Whatever local business groups you belong to, such as your local Chamber of Commerce, probably have websites where they allow members to list their businesses online and perhaps even place ads on the site at special rates. Search out other local sites, especially those related to tourism, and make sure you’re listed there, too.

Then there are the professional sites. Are you a Virtual Assistant? A CGA? A Canadian retailer? Whatever your professional affiliations, chances are good that organization has a site with a directory of members. There are also a lot of specialized online networking groups/sites that promote marketing online. A Business Advertising package on the Canadian Women’s Business Network, for instance, costs only $36 CAN.

4) Participating in Social Media

Joining the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and forums, posting on Flicker and YouTube, commenting on other people’s blogs, are all opportunities for marketing online.

Marketing online through social media requires a much more subtle technique than marketing online through advertising or directory listings. With all social media, the trick is to participate intelligently and actually attempt to converse rather than just advertising your products or services. Comments such as “Good point.

The downside of social media marketing is that it’s time-consuming. If you want to do it well and see any real benefit from it, you have to work at it. The upside is that it’s free and can really generate a lot of buzz about your products/services if something that you’ve done online ( a post, a video, an article) becomes really popular.

5) Online Networking

LinkedIn deserves special mention in any discussion of online networking. Its stated purpose is to help the world’s professionals connect with one another to accelerate their success. As of this writing, LinkedIn has over 40 million members in over 200 countries and territories around the world. It’s a powerful tool for internet marketing, giving you the opportunity to connect with potential customers, partners and colleagues.

Besides being a great source of support and information, groups such as these also provide some marketing opportunities. Other members may be potential customers or referral sources as they get to know you and what you do.

Like social media, online networking requires taking a subtle approach. The same basic rule applies to online networking that applies to networking face-to-face. Give, give, give and don’t worry about receiving; you will, likely in bigger, more powerful ways than you ever imagined.

6) Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the best and most powerful ways of online marketing in my opinion. For one thing, once you’ve developed an email list, (notice the word developed, not bought), you are, in effect, preaching to the converted, sending your marketing message directly to people who have already indicated some interest in your products or services.

For another, email is an excellent tool for building a relationship with your customers, letting you build both repeat business and good word-of-mouth.

Newsletters can be sent to the email list you’ve built from the people who provided the necessary information on your website, for instance, providing these potential customers with news updates about your company, upcoming events and/or special offers – and, of course, reminding them that your business exists and that maybe it’s time for another visit.

Email programs such as VerticalResponse and Constant Contact allow you to customize your email to your potential customer so you can send selected customers messages specific to their interests and actions.

Marketing Online and Offline Are The Same in One Way…

Just like any offline marketing, your online marketing efforts need to be planned. So don’t just post something here and place something there and consider that you’re marketing. Create an internet marketing campaign and plan and measure your results just as you would with any other marketing.

And remember too, that targeting still matters. The more carefully you have targeted your potential customers and the more carefully you have chosen and placed your marketing advertisements or your conversations, the more successful your marketing campaign will be.

The thing that’s different about marketing online, however, is its incredible reach. The Internet gives your business the chance to reach thousands and perhaps even millions of people who would never hear of your products and/or services otherwise – making online marketing a marketing opportunity you don’t want to miss out on.